Press Releases
News Corporation Announces Restructuring of Fox Networks Group Operations
Fox Broadcasting Company and FX Networks to Report to Peter Rice, Chairman, Entertainment, Fox Networks Group
All Sports Networks to Report to David Hill, Chairman, FOX Sports
Both Executives Report to Fox Networks Group
Chairman and CEO Tony Vinciquerra
Los Angeles, CA, January 13, 2010 –In a move designed to
better align the company’s creative leadership, News Corporation Deputy
Chairman, President and Chief Operating Officer Chase Carey and Fox Networks
Group (FNG) Chairman and CEO Tony Vinciquerra today announced a
restructuring of the company’s entertainment and sports television
operations. Fox Broadcasting Company (FOX) and FX Networks, (FX and the Fox
Movie Channel) will now be overseen by Peter Rice, Chairman, Entertainment
for the Fox Networks Group. All sports operations, including FOX Sports, the
company’s 19 regional sports networks, The Fox Soccer Channel, SPEED, Fox
Sports en Espanol and FUEL TV will be under the supervision of David Hill,
Chairman and CEO, FOX Sports, as will the company’s joint venture sports
businesses STATS, LLC. and Big Ten Network. Both Rice and Hill will continue
to report to Vinciquerra.
John Landgraf, President and General Manager of FX Networks, will report to
Rice, while Randy Freer, president of Fox Sports Networks; David Nathanson,
Executive Vice President and General Manager of Fox Soccer Channel; Hunter
Nickell, President of SPEED; Dermot McQuarrie and Raul De Quesada, Senior
Vice President and Co-Assistant General Managers, Fox Sports en Espanol; and
CJ Olivares, Senior Vice President and General Manager, FUEL TV will report
to Hill.
Rich Battista, President Fox National Cable Networks, is in discussions
about a potential new role within the company.
“News Corporation is the world’s leading content company with the country’s
number one broadcast network and powerful cable networks across the board.
We have great management teams driving these businesses,” said Mr. Carey.
“This reorganization is not targeted at short term change, but at
maintaining our momentum while better aligning us in key content areas for
long term growth as we take these businesses to new heights over the coming
years.”
“David Hill and Peter Rice are two of the most successful executives at our
company,” said Mr. Vinciquerra. “Not only do I admire their creative
prowess, but they have both done a tremendous job of growing their
respective businesses and their continued leadership will place us in an
enviable position as we move forward.”
Carey added, “Rich Battista is a valued member of this company and we hope
to find a new opportunity for him in the near term.”
David Hill has been Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, FOX Sports
Television Group since 1999, which includes FOX Sports, America’s No. 1
sports network for 13 consecutive years and FOXSports.com. Hill also served
as Chairman and CEO, Fox Broadcasting Company from September 1997 to June
1999, overseeing all programming, marketing, advertising sales and business
affairs. In December 1993, armed with FOX’s first rights agreement to
broadcast the NFL, Hill arrived in the U.S. to create FOX Sports and serve
as its first president. FOX Sports grew from a concept to a fully functional
sports division in just eight months, utilizing state-of-the-art studio and
on-site broadcasting facilities. Hill’s creativity led to such innovations
as the FOXTrax computer enhanced hockey puck; the FOXBox
constant-score-and-clock graphic; in-base microphones, “Diamond Cam,”
"Catcher-Cam," Gopher Cam, “Crank It Up” audio segments, “The Adventures of
Digger & Friends” cartoon series and merchandise and most recently, a series
of mid-day programs on FOXSports.com under the umbrella “Lunch with
Benefits.”
Before his arrival in the U.S., Hill held several News Corp. posts in the
U.K. In 1988, he helped launch Sky Television and Eurosport. When Sky
Television merged with British Sky Broadcasting in 1990, he took charge of
BSkyB Sports Channel and created Sky Sports in 1991. Hill relocated to Great
Britain from Australia, where he had been Vice President, Sports, with the
Nine Network since 1977.
Peter Rice was named chairman of entertainment in March 2009 and was given
oversight of Fox Broadcasting Company. The network recently finished the
fall, for the first time, as the No. 1 network among Adults 18-49, a
position it retains due to its stable schedule and new hits like GLEE and
THE CLEVELAND SHOW. AMERICAN IDOL returned strongly last night and the new
series HUMAN TARGET will preview this Sunday, along with the new season of
the critically-acclaimed 24. Prior to his post as chairman of entertainment,
Mr. Rice was president of Fox Searchlight, where he served as the driving
force behind the success of the specialty film genre, bringing to the screen
some of the industry’s most successful films and award-winning films,
including Slumdog Millionaire, The Wrestler, Little Miss Sunshine, Sideways
and Juno. Before that, as Executive Vice President of Production for
Twentieth Century Fox, he worked on a wide range of films including Moulin
Rouge, Romeo & Juliet and X-Men.
News Corporation
News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV) had total assets as of
September 30, 2009 of approximately US$55 billion and total annual revenues
of approximately US$30 billion. News Corporation is a diversified global
media company with operations in eight industry segments: filmed
entertainment; television; cable network programming; direct broadcast
satellite television; integrated marketing services; newspapers and
information services; book publishing; and other. The activities of News
Corporation are conducted principally in the United States, Continental
Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, Asia and Latin America.
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Contact:
News Corp.: Julie Henderson, 310-369-0773
Fox Networks Group: Scott Grogin, 310-369-4733